- BusinessReuters Videos
Vaccines, Biden drive Dow, S&P to record highs
A historic day on Wall Street Tuesday as the Dow closed above 30,000 for the time in history. The blue chip index rallied 454 points to a record closing high of 30,046 points. The S&P 500 jumped 57 points to a lifetime closing high as well. The Nasdaq rose 156. Investors snapped up stocks on hopes COVID-19 vaccines will slow the spread of the virus and lead to stronger economic growth next year. The Dow has now rallied nearly 12-thousand points, or 65 percent, from the March low set when investors feared the pandemic would push the U.S. economy into a long-lasting recession. Politics also gave markets a boost after President-elect Joe Biden was given the official go ahead to start his transition to the White House. Max Wolff of Multivariate: "I think people like the cabinet post we're seeing from Biden. They like the idea that the sort of long period of uncertainty about how much difficulty we'd see an outgoing Trump administration make. I think that people like that that's over. I think people like Janet Yellen as an idea for a new Treasury secretary. She's a known quantity, was a pretty able sort of hands in a tough moment, so I think that's kind of it." But with coronavirus cases surging by the day and millions of Americans still unemployed, some traders expect to see a sharp market pullback in the next few weeks. Turning to some of the stock standouts of the day: Tesla now has a market value of more than half a trillion dollars. The electric car maker is revving higher ahead of officially becoming a member of the benchmark S&P 500 index next month. The stock has risen more than six-fold this year and was up more than 6 percent to a record high on Tuesday. And Boeing: The aerospace giant received preliminary approval from European regulators to get the 737 MAX back in the air. Shares of Boeing rallied more than 3 percent.
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Los Angeles dining ban moves ahead as virus surges
A California judge has rejected a request from a restaurant industry group to block Los Angeles County from reinstating a ban on outdoor dining, a plan the group said would devastate businesses and workers. (Nov. 24)
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Stock market party ignores COVID-19 risks -analyst
Wolff thinks the market is too enthusiastic with vaccine news, given widespread distribution is not likely until the middle of next year at best.
